I Forgive You
by WoundedSparrow
Summary: In Eclipse, Bella forgives Edward for having her babysat by Alice while he is away hunting. What if Bella decided not to immediately forgive Edward and instead take a break from the relationship? Will they be able to stay away from each other? B&E Ones


**This is my first attempt at a Twilight fanfic! I'm really excited but nervous too. I was looking for a story like this one to read but couldn't find one, so I decided to write my own version of it. Hopefully it isn't a repeat of something someone else has done. **

**Basically, this takes place after Edward gives Alice a yellow Porsche because she is keeping Bella imprisoned at the Cullen house while Edward hunts. In Eclipse, Bella forgives Edward the night he comes home, but I figured it would be interesting to see what would have happened if Bella didn't forgive him so easily – if her stubborn side won and she stayed mad at Edward for a while.**

**I don't know – maybe that's just interesting to me. :)**

**Anyway, Enjoy! Hopefully it's not too bad.**

**And RNT will be updated this week. I was hoping to get it updating last weekend but we were on a car trip and my laptop battery died.**

**Happy Thanksgiving!**

* * *

It wasn't like I was trying to be ridiculous about it. What had happened was not easily forgivable, although feeling my vampire boyfriend's hands trailing up and down my thigh that night, and enjoying the kisses he pressed to my mouth, almost made up for it.

Edward had imprisoned me in his house while he was away hunting, under the watchful eye of his sister, Alice. Yes, she was my best friend, but I really didn't like being babysat. I was eighteen, not three. I didn't need someone to watch me like a child.

I didn't care that he argued it was for my safety and protection, or that he didn't want to lose me because I was the most important thing to him ever. That did not fly. The morning after Edward returned, I changed my mind and decided that keeping me imprisoned from Jacob wasn't instantly forgivable with a kiss, and I told him I needed a break from his overprotective tendencies.

I'd had to repeat it in order for him to understand. Edward stood there in the foyer of the Cullen house the next morning, looking at me with confused eyes that slowly filled with hurt.

"_Bella, I don't understand…" _

"_I just need like…a day. Just give me a day. The fact that you didn't trust me hurt-"_

"_But you still snuck off to Jacob's even when Alice was watching you! I do trust you, Bella. I just can't take any chances. I told you that I realized Jacob wasn't harmless, and that I don't want you hurting yourself trying to see him." Edward stepped forward and cupped my cheek in his palm, "I love you, Bella. I just want to protect you. Please don't do this."_

"_Edward..." I slowly backed away towards the door. "I love you, too, but I need a break…"_

_He remained silent for a moment, looking at me with a depressed expression. "I'm sorry, Bella. Just know that…please."_

However, my desire to see him again resurfaced after a mere five minutes. When I told him I needed a break, I had only imagined a day apart – max. But a day had turned into over a week. The only thing keeping me away from Edward was my stubbornness – I didn't want to have to apologize to him for something he did in the first place. Sure, he had said he was sorry, but I was not going to forgive him just yet. I couldn't. I had to get my point across to him that I was not a possession, but a woman.

Of course, he argued that he understood that fact clearly, but I still didn't feel like giving in.

So here I am, sitting on my bed on a Sunday night, trying to forget about my boyfriend, whom I had not seen or talked to outside of school in nine days. It was torture.

I would walk into school in the morning, straight past him leaning on his silver Volvo, watching me with desperate eyes. Not even throwing a glance his way, I trudged through the front doors and made my way to all of the required classes for the day. Avoiding Edward was hard at school, however, because he had nearly the same schedule as mine, and we sat next to each other in every similar class we had. He would glance at me often, trying to catch my eye to probably attempt to apologize again. I knew he was hurting because of me, and I hated that. But I also hated being babysat…

It was hard to avoid talking to him when he would purposely do things to make me curious. Like taking notes during class – which he never had to do – or having mind conversations with Alice at lunch. I had refused to sit next to Edward at lunch, not because I didn't want to, but because I knew if sat next to him anymore than I had to I would give in and beg for him to take me back. That couldn't help me at all.

I almost caved on Friday afternoon at lunch. By that time, Edward had realized that I was not going to talk to him until I was ready to forgive him. He had respected my personal space and was trying to please me by not attempting to talk to me anymore. However, the one thing he refused to stop doing was walking with me to class. He would walk next to me, not holding my hand or talking to me, but just walking with me. I had to admit that I liked that, though. I was too in love with him to be mad about a simple gesture like that.

When Friday afternoon rolled around, I sat down at the lunch table next to Alice, who I was still talking to. She had been trying desperately all week to convince me to forgive Edward, or at least just talk to him. She would come over after school every night and explain to me how much Edward was suffering because I was upset with him. He was locking himself in his room and refused to participate in any family activities except for hunting. Hearing those stories of how he was suffering made me want to jump into his arms and never let him go again. It wasn't just painful for him, but for me as well.

And even though he knew I was mad at him because of his overprotective tendencies, he still refused to back off on my safety, as I swear I had seen him at least three times pacing the woods outside my house in the early morning hours.

That wasn't really helping his cause, but I understood it was because of good intentions. He loved me, and that just added to the difficulty of not being with him.

So, sitting at the lunch table on Friday afternoon, watching Edward quietly sit down across from me and Alice without looking up from the table, I wondered why I had even been mad at him. My common sense came back to me after a few seconds, however, and I was able to remind myself that I was trying to prove a point – no matter how childish my way of doing it was.

"So, Bella…" Mike sat down on the other side of me and immediately struck up a conversation. I quickly glanced over at Edward who had an annoyed look on his face as he continued to stare at his food.

"So, Mike…" I replied cautiously, wondering what he was going to say. Mike had noticed the tension between Edward and me for the past week and was capitalizing on it as much as he could. He began to sit on the top of my desk again before class, like he did before Edward and I had even gotten together. Mike would also walk with me to certain classes, even though Edward was always there. It was easy to tell that he was enjoying this little fight between me and my boyfriend.

"Jessica, Eric, Ben, Angela, and I are all planning on catching that new horror flick tonight. Do you want to come? It's supposed to be a great movie and we're going out to eat beforehand." Mike glanced quickly at Edward, almost challenging him to say something. "I could give you a ride there if you want."

I could see Alice's sympathetic expression as she stared at her brother, probably having a conversation with him in her mind. I looked at Edward for a moment, noticing his hand was balled up into a fist.

I was trying to prove a point, but the last thing I wanted to do was deliberately hurt him. At the same time, however, I was interested in hanging out my human friends. After all, I only had limited time left with them. After graduation I would most likely disappear from their lives.

"I would love to go Mike." I said, smiling as his face lit up. "I'm okay for a ride, though. I can drive myself. I'll meet you at the restaurant."

There. That was a compromise. I wanted to go to the movie even though Edward would be upset, but I wasn't going to ride with Mike, because that would push him over the edge. To be honest, though, I really didn't want to be in a car with him anyway. I was sure he would try something.

Edward let out a sigh and I looked up to see him gazing at me with a tortured and desperate look on his face before getting up, throwing away all of his lunch, and walking out of the cafeteria.

Mike looked at me, and I shrugged, turning toward Alice as he began to converse with Ben and Angela.

"Bella…"

I waited patiently while she glanced toward the entryway to the cafeteria with a worried expression before turning back to me.

"He's dying, Bella. No pun intended…" Alice said in a whisper. "Are you planning on forgiving him soon? I know that you're unhappy, too. And he knows that what he did was wrong. Bella, if you were hoping that he wouldn't treat you like a child anymore and have you babysat, then you were successful after the first day of refusing to talk to him. Edward loves you so much, and he just wanted you to be safe. He understands that he can't keep you from seeing Jacob, and that Jacob has good intentions and will protect you well…"

I attempted to push down the regret that was building as Alice tried to convince me to stop this stupid situation I had put myself and Edward in. In a way, it had escalated a little too far, but regardless, I remembered the fury I felt when I had realized Edward was having me babysat during his hunting trip. That was what kept this going.

"Alice…it's complicated. I don't mean to be hurting him…" I started to say but trailed off as I saw an excited expression cross Alice's face. A vision, maybe?

"Is the game night still on? Remember you promised me like a month ago that we would have a game night this Sunday because Charlie would be away on a fishing trip? Everyone was coming over to your house to spend the evening." Alice asked quickly.

To be honest, in all the drama that had been occurring the past few days I had completely forgotten about my promise.

"Sure. I don't see why it can't still happen." I answered.

"Great!" Alice cheered excitedly. "_All_ of us will be there. It will be such a fun night!" My pixie best friend jumped up from the table before gliding out of the cafeteria.

Yeah. I realized it on Friday afternoon. Edward was going to be coming tonight. Sure, it may be a little awkward to be around his family when they knew I was hurting him, but I was willing to take that in exchange for being in the same room for him. It was _so_ hard to go without seeing Edward on the weekends. I couldn't sleep for the past nine days either without him holding me. It was irrational to blame him for that one, though, because I'm sure he would have gladly spent the nights at my house if I hadn't locked my window.

The doorbell rang and I jumped slightly, looking at the clock on my nightstand. Yep. 6pm exactly. Vampires were so punctual.

As I walked down the stairs, I wished desperately that it was Monday instead of Sunday. That way this whole game night thing would have already passed.

I opened the front door to see Alice standing in front of her family. She immediately jumped towards me and gave me a huge hug, "Hi, Bella!"

"Hello, Alice." I replied, holding back a laugh as I saw Jasper behind her, juggling at least seven different board games.

"Bella." He greeted politely as I let all of the Cullens in. Emmett gave me a huge bear hug and Rosalie forced a smile. Carlisle and Esme both gave me hugs as they walked into my house, each telling me that they were excited about the night.

Edward was last. He glanced up at me briefly before looking back down at the ground. "Hello, Bella." He said gently, still not looking at me.

"Hi, Edward. Come on in." I said politely, motioning for him to enter. He thanked me for holding open the door for him and followed his family into the living room.

Alice was already setting up the first game while Esme and Carlisle were getting comfortable on the couch. I observed them for a moment, seeing how in love they were as Carlisle wrapped his arms around Esme and kissed her on the head. Renee and Phil had that kind of relationship too, and occasionally it would cross my mind that Charlie deserved the same kind of happiness…

"Okay!" Alice commanded the attention of the room. I sat down in my dad's chair. Rosalie and Emmett were on the other side of the couch, next to Esme and Carlisle, and Alice and Jasper were sitting in front of the TV on the floor. Edward was seated on the floor across the room from where I was sitting, occasionally looking at me.

"I'm so excited about this game day at Bella's house! Thanks for having us Bella!" Alice started.

I smiled. She was so polite.

"So the first game we are going to play is charades!"

"YES!!!!" Emmett shouted, jumping up from his position on the couch. "I OWN this game!" he boasted.

Everyone laughed at his reaction, and Alice continued to explain the conditions.

"So we are going to split up into pairs. It's going to be Esme and Carlisle, Emmet and Rose, Jasper and I, and Bella and…" Alice trailed off after she realized that she had left me and Edward to be paired together. The whole family was looking at me, gauging my reaction. I knew Alice hadn't done it intentionally – Edward and I were normally paired together for any family activity.

"Um…why don't Bella and I be a team and Jasper and Edward pair up?" she suggested before having everyone group up, giving Jasper a slight squeeze for being such a good sport.

I watched Edward throughout the game, just as he watched me. He had dressed nicely tonight and looked more handsome than normal, if that was even possible. If he was trying to get me to notice him, it was working very well. I almost couldn't take my eyes off him. My stomach clenched as I glanced at him once more. Why was I torturing myself again?

"Okay! That was super intense. Congrats Carlisle and Esme! You guys won!" Alice cheered. "How about another game?" The pixie turned towards the clock briefly, noticing that was already nine.

"Oh my gosh! That was such a long charades game. It's a school night, too, so we should probably get going. Aw…I wanted to stay longer, but thanks for having us, Bella."

I rolled my eyes. "Alice, you guys don't have to leave just because I require sleep to function. I don't mind staying up. I can't sleep anymore anyway…" I trailed off as I realized what I had said.

Everyone was looking at my curiously, and Alice had a knowing expression on her face.

I forced my eyes to look at Edward. His desperate expression was back as he looked at me with pleading eyes. I knew that everyone figured out the reason I couldn't sleep was because Edward wasn't there. That was obvious.

"Well…you should try." Alice said softly. The playful mood of game night was officially killed. I was just ruining everything lately, wasn't I?

All of the Cullens thanked me for offering up my house for the night, and each exited rather quickly, while Edward stayed back. This was the last thing I wanted to happen tonight. I couldn't have this conversation with him…

"Bella…If you would like, I can ask Jacob to stay outside your house at night if it will help you sleep. I know he already is patrolling, but if it would make you feel more secure and safe…"

"Edward, it's really okay. I just have a lot on my mind, that's all. I'm not worried about my safety." I answered, walking him towards the door. That was the most I had said to him in these past nine days.

"You should be…" he muttered quietly, probably thinking I couldn't hear him. "For what it's worth though, I can't explain to you how sorry I am that kept you from Jacob. He helped you get through my period of absence, and for that I can't hate him…"

Edward hesitantly placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Bella. I'll see you at school tomorrow." Before I could say anything in response he walked by me and out the door, but not before I could pick up him whispering, "Love you".

My legs nearly crumpled underneath me. God, this was torture.

* * *

Gym sucks. I can't even explain how stupid it is to have to endure the activities PE teachers inflict on their students. It doesn't even count toward your GPA, so why should we have to take it?

"Nice pass today in volleyball, Bella. I'm so glad we won our game!" Jessica complimented me as we walked outside to the parking lot.

"Thanks. You played great." I said before we walked toward our respective cars. I knew she was just trying to be nice. I didn't have a pass at all, more like a swat with my forearm that just happened to be saved by Mike from going out of the court.

I glanced toward Edward's parking spot. He was standing in front of his car with Alice. Both were talking and glancing at me. We had gone back to not conversing again today, and I still sat by Alice at lunch.

Feeling the stress of the situation return, I quickly hopped into my truck and peeled out of the parking lot – well, as quickly as my truck could. I knew Edward was watching my car curiously but I ignored his gaze.

The night passed quickly. Alice came over, strangely even more excited and peppy than she usually was, and then returned home. I was confused at her attitude, but shrugged it off because that was just Alice…

I finished my homework early, so I sat in my room and thought about Edward – what I usually did. The physical hurt was getting to be too much. Why had I been such an idiot? He had told me again and again that he was sorry and that he would let me see Jacob. Wasn't that what I wanted? Why was I not talking to him?

In reality, I knew why. I felt guilty. So guilty for the way I handled my anger towards him that I couldn't face him. I had acted like a child instead of like the adult I was. I could have talked the situation over with Edward – discussed my feelings and laid everything out on the table instead of hiding away like a five year-old. Edward deserved someone so much better than me… I had been so unfair to him and yet he took it all because he believed it made me happy, or at least believed that I wanted it…

I decided that I was going to have a big talk with him tomorrow after school. I couldn't avoid him anymore. I needed him back in my life and was willing to talk to him and negotiate the whole safety issue. We needed to stop hurting, everyone needed to stop hurting.

I called the Cullen house and waited for Alice or Edward to pick up the phone.

"Hello, Bella." Carlisle answered. Whoa, that was kind of different. Normally Carlisle was at the hospital around this time.

"Hi Carlisle. Is…Alice there?" I felt weird asking to talk to Edward after I had been avoiding him as much as possible for the past two weeks. Besides, I could just ask Alice to invite him over to my house after school tomorrow.

"Alice is not in. Everyone is hunting, actually. Shall I take a message?" Dr. Cullen answered politely.

"Um…" I debated leaving him with my message for Edward, but figured it was better than calling him directly. "Could you tell Edward that I was wondering if we could talk after school tomorrow at my house if he has time?"

There was a slight pause on the other line. I'm sure Carlisle was deciphering the meaning behind my words.

"Of course, Bella. I would be delighted to tell him that." Carlisle answered with obvious excitement in his voice.

I couldn't help but smile. This was the right decision. Everyone was happier when Edward and I were together. Now, as long as he would take me back after what I did to him for the past two weeks…

I thanked Carlisle and hung up the phone, suddenly feeling happier and lighter than I had in a while. I bounced out of the room and into the shower, completely excited about what tomorrow would bring.

I heard Charlie downstairs when I skipped back into my room. He would be happy, too. Charlie hated when I Edward and I were having relationship problems, as he feared that I would go back into a depression.

Quickly opening and closing the door I turned around to put my old clothes in my laundry hamper when I stopped in my tracks.

"Edward!" I exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?" I asked the vampire sitting on my bed.

"Waiting for you to get out of the shower. Carlisle told me you wanted to talk?" he questioned cautiously, probably suddenly unsure about his decision to come see me.

My heart raced as I stared at him. It had been so long, too long, since we were together. My entire being ached with the desire to have him hold me in his arms and kiss me again.

"Yeah…tomorrow after school…" I said slowly, still confused as to how he got here so fast if he was hunting.

"That's what Carlisle said, but I didn't really have to hunt and I figured that now was as good of time as any…but if you want to talk tomorrow I can leave." Edward got off the bed and started walking toward the window.

"NO!" I exclaimed. I might as well take the chance to talk to him while he willingly came to the house. "We can talk tonight…"

"Okay." I could tell Edward was fighting to hide the excitement in his voice. His entire demeanor showed me that he was hopeful that I would forgive him tonight.

There was a long pause as we stared at each other.

"I'm sorry." Edward said simply, while completely meaning it.

"I know." I answered softly, completely caving in to what I wanted as I moved across the room to hug him. He instantly returned the hug, wrapping his arms around me tightly and burying his face in my hair.

"I trust Jacob. I swear. I didn't see it before because I may have been too blinded by my jealousy of your relationship with him, but I realize that I can't prevent you from seeing him. I never wanted to come off as controlling. I just wanted to keep you safe. I can't lose you…not again." Edward whispered into my ear.

I shivered at his words. I loved how he could do that to me without even trying.

"I accept your apology. I didn't mean for the past two weeks to be so bad. I just wanted you to get my point, but the way I went about it was childish and stupid. Will you forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive, Bella. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm just grateful that you were able to forgive me for my stupid mistake. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't…" Edward kissed me on my neck after he was done talking, sending shivers up my spine.

"Oh, Edward…Sometimes I feel so powerless, so insignificant compared to you. I know you don't want me to feel that way, but sometimes I do." I replied, pulling away from him slightly to trace my hand over his cold cheek. His eyes closed briefly in contentment before he opened them to look at me.

"Bella," Edward said softly, cupping my face in his hands. "You have no idea the power you have over me. Everything I do is with you in mind. Every decision I make – I always think about how it will affect you. You are the most important thing in the world to me."

Edward leaned down to kiss both of my cheeks before whispering, "I love you, Bella."

He looked at me carefully, as if asking for permission to kiss me. I smiled slightly and reached up to wrap my arms around his neck and connect our lips. Even though it was nothing compared to the half year he had been absent from my life before, the past two weeks had made his kisses so much sweeter.

I could tell he felt the same way, as Edward didn't pull away when he normally would. He backed me up to my bed and we both fell on top of it. I could definitely get used to this…

Edward was letting me take advantage of the situation as he allowed me to press myself as close to him as possible, clutching onto him as if I was about to drop off a cliff. His grip pulled me even tighter against him.

When I began panting from lack of breath he pulled away and started kissing my neck, whispering how much he loved me every time his lips were free.

I didn't feel weak for forgiving him. I felt empowered that we had reached a new level of understanding in our relationship. It felt good. I was even more in love with him now than I had been before, if that was possible.

"Will you spend the night tonight? I really need some sleep." I asked him as I wrapped my arms around his torso.

Edward's eyes connected with mine, instantly lighting up.

"I knew it. You couldn't sleep because I wasn't with you, right?" he asked, continuing his kisses down my neck.

"Yes. I missed you too much. Every time I rolled over to snuggle into you in the middle of the night, you weren't there." I confessed, hiding my face in his chest.

Edward smiled, moving my face so he could kiss my lips once again. "I wanted to be there."

"I know," my guilt came back ten-fold, "I'm sorry I locked the window."

"It's okay, Love." Edward pulled the covers back on the bed and looked up at me expectantly.

"So will you spend the night?" I asked, crawling over to him on the bed.

"Always, Bella." He promised, kissing me on the cheek.


End file.
